The field of the invention is housewares and the invention relates more particularly to a device for facilitating the dispensing of toothpaste (or other material) from a tube.
Numerous devices have been devised for this purpose with varying degrees of success. The Songer U.S. Pat. No. 2,896,822 shows a collapsible tube roller which has a turn key rotatingly held within a generally U-shaped cavity. As the handle is turned the tube is squeezed between one of the guide lips of the cavity. The Hausmann, et al. device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,460 also has a slotted turn key in a cavity and has a number of ribs which help squeeze the contents of the tube out of the tube as the turn key is turned. The Elias, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,314 also has a slotted turn key which is held within a body which has a pair of jaws which help to squeeze the contents out of the tube as the turn key is turned.
Because these devices support the turn key in a cavity, they are limited as to the size of tube with which they can be used.